I thought you guys might like a laugh to get your week started. Here’s a poem of mine that won the National Federation of State Poetry Societies sonnet contest in 2010. It was first published in their prize anthology Encore.
The Adventures of Squirmy
My brother had a frog with four webbed feet—
a gift. My mother wouldn’t touch the thing,
but driven by her need to keep things neat,
set out to clean his filthy tank, one spring.
So Squirmy got a temporary home
of glass; no lid did grace its shorter top,
thus Squirmy sensed his chance to jump and roam
about on new dry land; so out he popped,
slipped down the kitchen sink with one knee-jerk.
My mother, scared of frogs…well, lost control
and thought she had to call my dad at work,
so when he heard her say “disposal hole,”
he figured Squirmy’d be already gone
and all he knew to say was, “Turn it on.”
Annie Neugebauer
© 2010, All rights reserved.
*Yes, it is a true story. And no, Mom did not turn it on. Squirmy lived for many more adventures and an incredible 10 years.
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